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| Good times, from earlier in the day. |
Mum, Matt and Claire go up to the Sundance ski resort on the MLK holiday. They have fun. Claire, who by the way is reasonably confident on the slopes, takes a late run on Top Gun. Later, quite safe, she pauses to reflect upon the event. "I have to admit I might have been going a little faster than I should have ..."
She's going good, but then she hits that one mogul at that certain angle, and now she's careening off toward that stand of trees ...
What's that sound? wonders Matt, from further up the slope. Is Claire laughing? He listens more closely. Yes, he decides. But also, no. She isn't. He looks down, and looks to his mother, alongside. They can't quite make it out. "Is that a badger coming out of that thicket?"
Meanwhile, Claire had managed to run straight into that big tree there, causing what's known in the industry as a yard sale. She says that a multitude of thoughts came to mind in the instant before impact. She said that it was a surprisingly ordered array. I sure used to fight a lot with Spencer, said one of them as it passed by. After a reasonably blunt collision, a more pressing idea presented itself. Ouch!
Matt and Mum were light of heart. Unworried, you might say. After all, wipe-outs are funny! (This finally ended up being the right idea. The she's okay idea that is, not the one about laughing at the injured.) They make their way down there. Ouch, Claire continues. Also, I think I'm okay. Mum and Matt dig her out, try to prop her up, and ascertain that some assistance would actually be helpful around now. Ski patrol; toboggan; doctor (neighbour John T.), x-ray and, a day later, an MRI.
Report, from the surgeon: "She has a contusion to the Vastus muscles, a bone contusion of the inferior pole of the Patella, and a knee effusion. She also has some prepatellar fluid/bursitis from the direct blow ..."
Wha? Dr. John translates: "She should be fine, but she should also be compressing the knee with an ace wrap to get rid of the swelling... If she keeps it wrapped and immobilized it would allow the anterior structures to heal quicker than if she was bending it a lot. As long as she's improving she'll be okay ..."
